the mother. the mom allegedly discussing jihad with her oldest son tamerlan, information not shared with investigators here in in the u.s. until just the last few days. >> if the russians had given the fbi the information they had regarding the mother and the son and their view ons the mother's radicalization an the son's vad call zags it would have changed the investigation. >> they're trying to determine if the suspects had training to help carry out their attack. >> the way they handled the devices and the trade craft leads me to believe there was a trainer and the question is where is that trainer or trainers are they overseas or are they in the united states. in my consist conversations with the fbi, that's the big question. >> joining me right now is nbc contributor robert gibs. i want to begin with the new

report that russian authorities had a wiretap conversation between tamerlan and his mom talking about jihad back in 2011. is this a failure of us or is this something in hindsight that sounds much more sinister than dwarting what we saw in boston. >> i think what your report says that this is a conversation not shared by russian authorities until the last few days with authorities here. what you want to exam lynn after september 1 is and the christmas day bombing is our intelligence basis sharing information that they had. it's looks like the russians weren't forth coming in that conversation. my hunch is they probably are notoriously private in terms of sharing their security information and i think obviously it is something now that we'll have to peel back and

see why that didn't happen and what might be put in place to help facilitate some f that information sharing among governments as we look into that. >> robert the other big store on the administration's agenda is syria. what we saw over the weekend is any indication, there's little appetite among working toton for american boots on the ground. >> i don't think you want to say absolutely not. obviously we don't want to do that unless it's ababsolutely nes. >> i would say no. >> american people are weary as you pointed out np they don't want boots on the ground. i don't want boots on the ground. >> so today we have the syrian prime minister reportedly escaping an attempt on his life. meanwhile neighboring countries, like jordan have seen millions of the syrians that are pled the country. is the administration showing

this appropriate restraint or inaction because there are simply no good options at this point? well i, i think as you mentioned, there are really no great scenarios for getting really involved here. obviously aband you see from bipartisan members of congress, nobody has an appetite to put thousands or tens of thousands of american service members in harms way on the ground there. that's sort of a nonstarter. you mentioned the humanitarian crisis and i think there's no doubt that the administration will look to see if they're doing enough to deal with that. and what some have mentioned, arming the rebels, you understand that's adown side because some of the rebels are affiliated with al qaeda, sochl the rebels are on actual terrorists lists maintained by our government. so there really is not a ton of great option. it's sort of a rock and a hard

place. boots on the ground is not an option. we got to look at a no fly zone, some limited arming of some rebels are all on the table as soldiers are off. >> haven't the stakes been raised if the administration drew the chemical weapons red line in the sand. now it appears that could have happened and the administration wants a full investigation to come to conclusive evidence or not. should the administration regret that phrasing and saying that if a red line were drawn in the sand about chemical weapons and something happen -- if we do have a constructive proof, our options are one. >> i think, look, that's be the administrations policy. i think creating the red line is important because you want to set out a series of penalties for somebody to cross those. you're absolutely right. we've got to figure out definitively whether they were

crossed an fen they were take appropriate action. if you draw the red line and somebody crosses over it and then there isn't any action, then basically all red lines disappear. the question is how do you do it in a way that doesn't put service members, our men and women on the ground in harm's way. and i think that's where it get enormously complicated for the administration. >> people watching the calendar, this is going to make the first 100 days of the second term of being e inaugurated. there were some tongue aung cheek during the white house correspondent dinner about the 2011 election. >> i know republicans are still sorting out what happened in to 12 but one thing they agree on they need to do a better job on reaching out to minorities the. call me self-centers but i could think of one minority they could start with.

hello. >> all right. so the president having a good time there. but if is the president doing enough to get his agenda enacted. things are going to pop up, syria, gun control reform, things are going to happen that weren't on the president's purview going in. but is immigration reform his last best chance. >> i think it represents the best chance for the first two years of this term. and i think it's not necessarily going to be easy. obviously there look to be bipartisan leaders in both the house and the senate that want to make this happen. i still think the hardest is going to be getting a comprehensive immigration reform that includes a pathway to citizenship through the house of represents. i don't think the senate is going to be easy but the hardest thing will be getting it through the house. this is not going to be an easy thing. i do believe republicans understand that they have to do something for political reasons. i think there are a number of

republicans that have long championed immigration reform for a lot of other reasons that i think eventually will carry -- that will prevail. i think it does represent the president's best opportunity of getting something done in these first two years. >> meanwhile, vice president joe biden made some news for a comment he made to john mccain on friday in an event in arizona. here was the comment and mccain's response on meet the press. >> the economy not collapsed around your ears john, in the middle of literally as things were moving. you at least would have, i think you probably would have won. but it would have been incredibly, incredibly closer. >> i appreciate the fact that my dear friend would say something like that, but i doubt if the outcome would have been a lot different. but i can always hope it might have been. >> so you served as the communications director for the

president's '08 campaign. what is your response to that one. >> you guys have to love joe biden. every time he speaks, there's a news story. i would say this. i would disagree with what the vice president said. i think there were two things about that time period -- granted the race was close. but two things in that time period, the picking of sarah palin which i think hurt john mccain even after the initial buzz. and when lee mon collapsed when the economy started to accelerate in a downturn, i think people watched the reaction of the two candidates and came away from the fact that mckin didn't seem as steady in a crisis as they wanted. and real brand damage to the republican party as a result of eight years of president bush. i don't think in the end john mccain would have won that race. maybe it would have been closer but i agree with john mccain in this case. the outcome without have been

largely the same. >> great to see you, robert. thank you. >> thank you, thomas. >> president obama is expected to tap his pick for the next head of the transportation department and his pick is fox he's also the first african american among the president's picks. fox would replace outgoing ray lahood, one of the few republicans serving in the obama administrati administration. >> hurricane sand, how new jersey is restoring the shore. >> ricin arrest, another suspect in jail today. and our question today to you should the u.s. take military action in syria? the allergy m. you know who you are. you can part a crowd, without saying a word... if you have yet to master the quiet sneeze... you stash tissues like a squirrel stashes nuts...

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we are back with a new sugment preparing today call the agenda. we're goin to talking to a panel of progressive -- we're minutes away from president obama giving remarks at the 150 anniversary of the national academy of science and this comes as we're learning about a new push from house republicans that would require the national science administration to justify every grant handed out. today's panel, blake houn shell, editor of foreign policy magazine and timothy, what we can do about it. amanda i want to start with you. as we look at the fact that the house g.o.p. is looking for an angle to defund science, we know it's something that the president is trying to promote with his science agenda and where science is going, what is

the house trying to do by asking for more due diligence on where the money is going. >> well they're saying that they want the projects -- this is being led by the house science committee chairman, lamar smith from texas. we wants to make sure that not only are these projects ground breaking and worthy of federal money they should be help -- what's concerning a lot of democrats is this is really po lit sizing science. they're turning to the national science foundation into planned parenthood. it's become something that is po lit sized. they're not going tuesday republican congressman thinks it's important to do. >> some look at this as chipping away at that. some of the concerns that are being asked about by representative smith are

picturing animals in national geographic, regular lath accountability and china's dairy -- let me z you. send spending bill that was going to prohibit the sine research. is amanda on to something saying the house g.o. pochlt is hacking way ain the -- >> absolutely. who better to squluj the value of scientific projects with a grand standing member meng or a panel of peers. it's preposterous. it is an attack on the social sciences. republicans don't like the funding of social science which represents a tiny proportion of the science's budget and they don't like it because they're coming up with conclusions that

they don't like. they don't like that there's funding that finds that the public disapproves of the abuse of the filibuster process. so they're trying to silence the manager. >> well the house g.o.p. isn't going to like the research that's being examined here in a first, black voter turnout has secure passed that of whites as we look back at what happened in november. obviously the g.o.p. has been trying to rebrand itself in being a bigger ten party and looking a avenues of durnd the tent of just the white party. if we look at black voters at a high ore rate and by most measures sur passed the white turnout the first time. what does it mean to the future and how everyone is going to be looking to where they can get minorities on board and early. >> this is one of those studies that i actually think is a hopeful result because, you

know, if there's anything that's true about politics, it's about both parties want to win. ultimately i think the republicans are going to have to find the way to reach out to minority voters because they're going to keep losing elections. the writing is on the wall. there are a lot of smart people in the republican party and they're going to look at this and have the upper hand with people wantsing to shut out minorities. >> well, as we look at this, they're saying if people had voted last november at the same rates when black votes were lower, mitt romney would have won narrowly. this is according to and lis done by a.p. what interested you was the new york times article talking about the wealth gap among races and it widened since the recession. explain what this is demonstrating. because you gave a great stat about looking back all the way to 1979 to where we are today.

>> i think the new york times piece misses the point a bit. it talkings about the growth and wealth divide between blacks and whites. bit's evaporation of the wealth in housing market. that was make believe wealth for a lot of people due to the sub prime scandal. so i don't think it's terribly relevant. what is relevant is the fact that's buried in the story but i think is very important, that is that the gap, the income based gap between blacks and whites is essentially unchange since 1979. that's a, you know, that's a scandalous point. if i took you into a time machine, brought you back to 1979 and told you that a third of ooh century in the future the income gap between wlaks and whites would be unchange, you would have told me i was crazy but that's what happened. it's a troubling problem.

>> white families were four times as healthy as nonwhite m families. how much of a concern is this for the obama administration. we hit the 100-day benchmark for the president in his second term. i think it's a concern for him but i think a lot of people are frustrated that this isn't the front of his agenda and congress's agenda more. before the election you heard congress and the president constantly mentioning jobs, jobs, jobs. now you don't hear that as much. there's many more focus on immigration, gun control legislation. these are all important issues but a lot of people would like to see congress again looking toward economic recovery, toward recovering the housing market and what to do about the fact that so many people don't have jobs. >> as you bring up, immigration is something that the president ran on in '08 and 2012.

this problem with syria is something that skould have been anticipated as we've been watching a humanitarian crisis gho on in that country for the last two years. on the daily rundown, there was a man that appeared with check chuck. i want to play in i picked up on that interview. take a look. >> these guys who want to say let's get in there and let's drop bombs and let's do this, they'll have a field day. there is no end to the number of wars we can get into because there is a huge and a really important struggle going on within islam between mod rates and extremists and there are going to be turbulent battles for years to come. >> john mcmade a point talking about syria and the children he has seen there saying when these kids glow up if the u.s. doesn't do something they're going to want revenge on the u.s. for its

complacency. they're doing long term thinking here. that is something we need to consider when the home frant has become the battlefield. >> i think you look at syria and it's one of those problems from hell. it's not clear that any of the solutions that john mccain is pushing, you know, no fly zones, safe zones, bombing attacks on syrian regime sites. it's not clear that is going to help as more weapons have poured into the country more, much more of a militaryian conflict and less of a civilian uprising. if you look further, you have to be prepared for, you know more of the syrian children dying, living in ref gu camps. you've got 10 million refugee people outside the country living on food assistance and monies running out. it's really a dire humanitarian crisis. but i think the burden of proof

is on people who are arguing for a u.s. military intervention because the stakes are so high enthe american people aren't interested in sbeth into another war in the middle east. >> thanks to all three of you. i appreciate it. coming up, still on the agenda, democrats not giving in on gun control just yet. plus, the problem is that the media landscape is changing so rapidly. you can't keep up with it. i remember when buz zprks feed was something i did in college around 2:00 a.m. our second progressive panel of the day grades his performance.

breaking news coming out of

west los angeles. we've learned that a bomb squad haze been called to the va hospital. it appears that someone came into the hospital this morning with a grenade. the details of how this happened, they're unclear at this point burden of proof the emergency room has been evacuated. the bomb squad is on the way to hospital. here's a look at some other stories. the second man accused of send ricin laced letters to president obama and senator ricker. he was denied bail. >> opening statements begin today in katherine jackson's lawsuits against aeg life. she blames them for her son's death. they're going to bring bru a live report in so minutes. the owner of the build that collapsed in bangladesh will be

questioned. at least 380 people were killed when the illegal constructed site collapsed. >> tim tee bow has been cut by the new york jets after one season. the coach has a great respect for tee bow but it just didn't work out. >> kate was pregnant with the couple's first child spent the day with some children at the hospital. happy anniversary to the couple. ishares core. etf building blocks for your personalized portfolio. find out why 9 out of 10 large professional investors choose ishares for their etfs. ishares by blackrock. call 1-800-ishares for a prospectus, which includes investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. read and consider it carefully before investing. risk includes possible loss of principal. because every flake is double-toasted... splashed with sweet honey...

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we have some big news right now coming out of the nba. jason kol loins who is an active nba professional is the first american athlete in a major sport to come out and say he is gay. sports illustrated has a piece coming out on him in which the center sas i am black, and i am gay. i didn't set sout to be the first person to come out and say

this in the sports. >> he has known jason collins since he was in chelsea's class and at stanford. again, jason collins 34 yeerd nba center for the boston celtics comes out as gay. this freakishly powerful storm will go down as one of the worst elements of -- the wind has picked up, the rain has picked up. >> it's defendant gnatly safer to leave town to get out. >> there's now water rushing into the community. >> the sand done is the only thing between the town taen sea. >> it's gone from bad to worst tonight on the jersey shore. >> those are some of the unfort

gettable moments from six months ago. tens of thousands still remain homeless amid 50 build ondollars in damage. chris christie says the shore residents refuse to give up. ie know the people here, i'm one 0 of them. i knew that people were down an hurting in the days afterwards. but i knew folks would pick themselves up an get back to work. the progress we've made in the last six months has been extraordinary. >> reporter: thomas, six months ago today the water was overlapping on top of this pier. the destructive waves were on their way as superstorm sandy was striking. they're doing some of the cleanup. i'm on the brand new board walk here in seaside heights. they're trying to make it stronger than the last one obviously for more storms in the

future. they've used better wood were more expensive wood. they of. working as fast as they can be these contractors. memorial day weekend only four weeks away. they want to get this finished so they can get people out here. it's mostly water damage that happened from super storm san zi. you wouldn't know that the storm came through because you don't see a lot of damage from the wind damage. the water caused all of the problems. that the businesses are forced to replace the foors an anything that was on the floors. in all superstorm sandy killed 27 people, a lot of those on long island. as far as the storm itself went, it was only a category one. but we learned a very important less son. it was the size of the storm. they're recovering, it's slow but they're hoping they can have some sort of normalcy here as they head into the summer season. >> thanks so much. well one of the argument tekts of a fail gun control bill says

he wants to bring it back. here was senator jo manchin on sunday. >> i want to make it clear you with going to bring the bill back to the senate floor and you think it's going to be different this time. >> i freely believe if we have time to sell the bill an people will read the bill, i'm willing to go anywhere in this country and debate this issue, read the bill an tell me what you don't like. >> but the republican author may not be as ready as a take two as advertise counter part. >> toomey saying, we've seen the outcome of the vote. i'm not away of any reason that if we had the vote again we'd have a different outcome. joining me now mark brace. i'm going to show you the poll. toomey saw a boost in his approval rating after working with manchin on the bill. while he appears to be done

working on it, does that matter. >> i wouldn't bet that senator toomy is done with it if it comes time to have the bebait again pep kelly who voted no for reasons that were farce kl and she knows it experienced a 15% slide in her approval rating, senator flake has seen his approval and disapproval numbers flip. we're in a period of intense education pep and if the senators were confused, then we'll clarify for them and they'll feel differently. if they're aware of the gun lobby, they need to understand there are counter forces at work up clugd people who are willing to put their money where their mouth is when the election comes around. it's hard not to do what 90% of the public wants you to do. >> last hour, congresswoman

caroline mccarthy was on. >> it's never gun. >> gun legislation. >> you keep trying. they told me for 10 years they we couldn't pass the health and compensation bill. we kept it on the front burner. we kept trying to push it. it will pass e veb chully because sit the right thing to do. >> if something can't goat down on a widely supported issue such as background checks, where does harry reid start. >> people have to hear from the folks back home. if you look at the twitter feeds and facebooks of the senators voted no, there's a lot of anger out there. you have to channel the furry in the right direction. the state that we test, state of wisconsin says 79% said you need to have background checks. i don't think senators can vote against their constituents and keep mothers afraid that their

kids are not going to come home at night. but to caroline's point, it took 500 days for the violence against women act. the fact is we're going to keep at this and get it done. >> mark, thanks to see you. thank you. former president bill clinton spoke from the heart at the 20th an verse iry at the holocaust. take a listen to the words a few moments ago. >> we will always be able to come here to remind us that no matter how smart people are, if you have a head without a heart, you are not human, to remind us of what happened once so that we may all be vigilant about stopping it from happening again. >> today's ceremony was attended by more than 750 survivors.

coming up, the star studded civil trial over michael jackson's death. that begins today. prince, spike lee and quincy jones could all testify. we're going to take a look at who all could be on that witness stand. constipation, diarrhea, gas, bloating? yes! one phillips' colon health probiotic cap each day helps defend against these digestive issues... with three strains of good bacteria. [ phillips' lady ] live the regular life. phillips'. is as much about getting there... ♪ ...as it is being there. ♪ [ birds chirping ] away is where the days are packed with wonder... ♪ [ wind whistles ] ...and the evenings are filled with familiar comforts. find your away. for a dealer and the rv that's right for you,

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with our visionary cloud infrastructure, global broadband network and custom communications solutions, your business is more reliable - secure - agile. and with responsive, dedicated support, we help you shine every day of the week. final days of pop superstar michael jackson are back in the spotlight in a los angeles courtroom. open statements expected there today in a wrongful death suit. nbc's mike live in wur bank with the latest on this. what new details could it reveal? >> reporter: well a whole lot is at stake in this, hundreds of mill yops of dollars, maybe billions a some estimates. you mentioned some people who might testify, michael's family,

mother, children two ex-wives, there are some stars, diana ross, prince, quincy jones are on the list of 200 perspective witnesses. that's really about the money that might have been lost or was lost because michael jackson died before his come back. the more important question was who actually hired and controlled dr. conrad murray who was convicted as you know of involuntary manslaughter in the death of michael jackson for administering a fatal dose of pop po follow. both sides claim the other was response pbl. the concert promoters sha they didn't hire him or control him. jackson's family will say that

aeg knew clearly what michael jackson's condition was. they said he was despondent, emotionally paralyzed, he needed a psychiatrist. but aeg insists and will insist in court they are not controlling the doctor at all and not responsible for michael jackson's medical care. a. you've got another michael jackson saga in this city. it seems that michael jackson will never rest easy. >> mike, thaix so much. another big trial we're watching closely is that one in philadelphia where a jury is hearing closing arguments in an abortion trial of a doctor accused of killing full-grown babies in his clinic. joining me now to talk more about the case is elisse hoeg. it's good to have you hear talking specifically about this.

the facts are revealed that babies were born alive then killed in a manner that is just too gruesome to describe. but nay rale found itself under a spotlight about this case for allegedly remaining silent. but you vehemently denied that you have remained silent. what's your reaction as the trial wraps up. >> outrage. i think the american people join me and hay organization in being outraged that this man was able to operate for years brag on poor women who desperately needed safe and clean medical services but were unable to get it because of the restrictions that drove credible an reputable doctors out of business in pennsylvania. and we were the first out of the gate to call attention to this crisis. you know why? it's because unfortunately as

theant choices try and restrict mer more and more doctors out of business, they are the ones that are keeping them operating. this was not a failure of regulation. it was a failure of enforcement. then they drove poor desperate women into the clutches of a man who broke the law from top to bottom. >> you've described this as a case -- what did you mean by that. dufl like the onus has been put on naral and others to expose these doctors if you hear about these practices if they are going unquestioned by modern day laws dufl an onus on you. >> i feel the onus is on us to get -- who don't hold their patient's best sbrens at heart.

what he was doing was illegal from top to bottom. there had been complaints, they were ignored from the health board and i get up and go to work every single day to make sure that women get the care that they need and aren't driven into back alley abortion providers. >> thanks for joining us. we'll keep krour eye on that case and bring you more details about the jury is about to get it. thank you. >> thank you. >> we asked and you answered. should the u.s. take military action in syria. >> from devin should be based on solid -- andrew has a similar response to that, of course not we've learned nothing from iraq. keeps those comments coming in. [ male announcer ] research suggests cell health

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-- all right so developing right now as we broke in the hour, basketball player jason collins is making history today

becoming the first nba player to come out as gay while still being in the lead. rick pearl steen, barry gold water andweigel, msnbc contributor and political reporter for "slate." we started off the year with the celtics, was traded to the wizards, now he's coming out. dave i want to start with you, this issing if to set the sports world on its ear or not? >> no, it will. pieces of think people are starting to publish now about how the sports world is preparing itself for something like this happening. there are rumors that they're a team of athletes that are going to announce at the same time. so no one would be the jackie robinson, that didn't really happen. we have, we have somebody who is going to literally the face of this. with this interview. who also has at least one political connection. he credits congressman joe kennedy iii who went to stanford with him as one of the reasons he came out. he said kennedy marched in the gay pride parade. he saw that, heard about that

and he wondered why he wasn't making this own choice in his life. >> he's got good political connections, the president clinton came out with his own statement because of the fact that chelsea was a classmate and friend from stanford. chelsea clinton has come out saying that i am very proud of my friend, jason collins for having the strength and courage to become the first openly gay delete in the nba. his decision marks an important moment for nba, and sports if our country. he's free agent, while this does mark an important moment for our country. it doesn't mean we're going to see him back on the courts. >> well, maybe it won't be a big deal. i mean this is the way social change tends to happen. you think of the metaphor of a floodgate, right? once someone makes a brave stand for justice, something that seemed impossible yesterday seems inevitable and taken for granted today. so you know, we have a situation in which we have a jackie robinson figure. and maybe it will just be

business as usual. let's hope so. >> do you think this is going to create a domino effect, dave? i'll start with you. as you brought up that point, validly, several weeks ago, we had the discussion that maybe four players would come out at once to help balance the pressure and the spotlight. but now he is the first. do you think that this could create that domino effect? not just for basketball, but as we look at hockey, as we look at baseball, as we look at football? >> i definitely think so. i'm not somebody who covers sports typically. but i saw this and had to double-check. i couldn't believe this hadn't happened before. we've had for a very long time, i think sheryl swoopes came out in 2005, to the point where it's news, but not the kind of thing we think it's surprising any more. and that has to do with the fact that female athletes are already kind of breaking a norm when they compete. but i think that those players who are thinking about this they're going to gauge their reaction. i think they're going to interpret the fact that it's

getting so much hype. the point just made, they might be the first to play in a game when they come out and that would be dramatically different. somebody can still be the first to break that barrier. >> well the thing that we make a point, the distinction here is that britney greiner, who has gone pro came out, openly as a lesbian. she's going to be playing, but it's different when we think of females coming out to the male sports world, rick, do you think that that's, that that creates the dichotomy here, the big difference? britney did make a landmark reveal, so to speak just a couple of weeks ago. >> well, you know, men sometimes freak out at the thought of homosexual men, that's true. but look, i mean last night at the correspondents' dinner, conan o'brien made a joke about it, right? he said see your waiter if you want to order dessert or if you want to a support for gay marriage. like i say, the floodgates have opened. a year ago we might be wondering what all the big fuss was about.

>> we'll wait for the domino effect. rick, set me up, you talked about the correspondents' dinner, i want to show sarah palin sent out a tweet about it, said the white house correspondents' dinner is pathetic, the rest of america is out there working our bleep off while the d.c. bleep clowns throw themselves a nerd prom. dave so we remind everybody that she was there two years ago. we had her at the msnbc after-party, along with bristol when they were all promoting reality shows and their dancing feet. so is this just a way to get attention? sour grapes? >> i can't believe sarah palin would do something just to get attention, yeah, i mean she does have i think a j school degree. a journalist would have written at the bottom, disclose yur i've been to this thing two years ago. i have people taken pictures with me, i ordered a diet coke from rachel maddow. i don't know how she wants to be in the conversation. she seems to only emerge at random moments when she's full

of pique. this is a soft target. not many journalists come back from that thing and say it was the most pride that they had in their industry the whole year. it's a reward for all the actual journalism that goes on. sarah palin wanted to be talked about again. >> as the damn internet will show, her husband and her daughter went, so it's just interesting. our second agenda pam of the day, rick pearlstein, rick weigel. going on the fly with me about jason collins. that will wrap it up for me, i'll see you back tomorrow. "now" with alex wagner coming up. what's on the agenda. i've got the agenda on the mind now. >> i have no problem with agendas. i'll say one thing, thomas, of sarah palin's many mistakes, the first was ordering a diet coke from rachel maddow, obviously she should have ordered an old-fashioned, am i wrong? >> we did not see her there this

year. she was busy tweeting about how pathetic it is. >> but rachel was there making incredible old-fashioned. >> i saw a lot of mint and things being grinded up. >> it was a real process. >> have a great show. coming up we'll ask whether they slipped through the cracks. new questions about america's counterterrorism complex as new intel emerges about the boston bombers. nbc's michael isikoff will have the latest. also decision time, is syria calling the president's bluff by overstepping its bounds on the red line? we'll ask richard engel what options are on the table for the white house. plus, a sea change in the american electorate, has republicans scrambling to keep up. katrina vandenhuevel joins me next.

russia or the u.s., it's monday, april 29th and this is "now."

the fbi is on the hunt for more people who may have played a role in the boston bombing. according to lawmakers, police are investigating persons of interest who may have radicalized the suspected bombers or trained them. >> we still have persons of interest that we're working to find and identify and have conversations with. >> there are persons of interest of the united states. we're looking at phone calls before and after the bombing. >> the way they handled these devices and the tradecraft leads me to believe there was a trainer. the question is where is the treanor or trainees? >> on sunday, a key piece of information emerged about why russian authorities first took an interest in tamerlan tsarnaev. russian intelligence wire-tapped a conversation tsarnaev had with his mother in which they discussed jihad and a possible trip to palestine. however american intelligence officialre